Ella Deakin has shown signs of entrepreneurial flair from a very young age and now, aged just 21, she has established two growing Liverpool businesses

Aged just 21 entrepreneur Ella Deakin is the owner of not one, but two, successful Liverpool businesses.

Ella is the founder of Teepee Sleepee – Liverpool’s first teepee company which produces sleepover tents for children, opened back in 2017, when she was just 17, and Ella Bella’s – a pamper parlour for toddlers to teens that allows mums in, too.

The former Maghull High School pupil from Melling took a part-time job as a waitress while setting up Teepee Sleepee. After a visit to Australia in August 2017, she was inspired by her cousin’s teepee party, something she’d never seen here before.

Armed with her Grandma’s sewing tips and her dad’s help, she created just four teepee frames and just two themes for her customers to choose from. While she continued to work as a waitress, Ella had a booking every four to six weeks and Teepee Sleepee ticked over.

After leaving sixth form, Ella landed herself a place at dance school Elliot Clarke. Unfortunately, just before she was due to start, the school closed down and she was offered an alternative place elsewhere.

After a few months, she realised she wasn’t enjoying her time there and decided to leave and go full-time with Teepee Sleepee – something she realises was a huge risk and commitment to make. Ella’s grandma soon taught her how to use a sewing machine and before she knew it, she’d created 12 themes to choose from from scratch and now had 30 robust teepee frames.

She said: “I never imagined how much Teepee Sleepee would grow and that it would be so popular. I recently bought my first van which has made managing multiple bookings so much easier. Over the Easter weekend, I had more than 100 bookings to fulfil and my younger brother helps me with setting up and collection when I’m really busy.”

Ella’s entrepreneurial spirit has been around since she was young. She explained: “At school, I always thought ‘I don’t want to work for someone else’. I used to hate being told what to do and I felt that I could see an easier and better way of doing things which would benefit the business and/or the customer too.”

She used to watch YouTube videos and taught herself how to create impressive hairstyles, wedding hair ups and braids and was even trusted by a family friend to do all four of her bridesmaid’s hair at her wedding.

This led to her offering mobile beauty pamper party packages alongside the teepees in 2018 which proved to be really popular. And, at the end of 2019, an opportunity arose to open her own shop and she soon got to work on transforming it to create an impressive pamper parlour, with the help of her dad and uncle.

The parlour was set to open in April 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic took hold and Ella wasn’t able to open Ella Bella’s until July 2020. Following the opening, Ella has been overwhelmed with the interest and has hosted many parties as well as mother and daughter days out.

She added: “I’m so proud of Ella Bella’s – it was a shell when I first took it on and my dad and uncle listened to all of my wild ideas and brought them to life. It’s a pamper parlour for all, from toddlers to teens and mums are welcome too.

“I’ve ensured that it would be suitable for everyone with the packages being carefully created to offer a variety of treatments. Ella Bella’s has the wow factor and is complete with a party room, hairdressing station, nail station, pedicure area, pamper beds and an Instagrammable ball pool for pictures, Tik Toks and Boomerangs.

“Opening during a pandemic has definitely had its challenges but it’s all been worth it and I’m never afraid to take chances and put everything into the businesses to make them work. I’m excited to see Teepee Sleepee continue to go from strength to strength and to have our lovely guests back through the doors at Ella Bella’s now that we can reopen.”